An Informed Heart

"In keeping silent about evil, in burying it so deep within us that no sign of it appears on the surface, we are implanting it, and it will rise up a thousand-fold in the future. When we neither punish nor reproach evildoers. . .we are ripping the foundations of justice from beneath new generations."

— Alexander Solzehnitsyn

The present Israeli onslaught in Gaza viewed through the prism of the mainstream western media has such an air of unreality. Israeli "hasbara" or propaganda efforts have even invaded the blogosphere. Over fifty blogs have direct access to Israeli officials to perpetuate the ongoing myth that Palestinians are to blame for the carnage.

A visit to Google News to read headlines on the Gaza slaughter reveals the same distorted picture. Even "neutral" headlines and stories promote the twisted reality that Palestinians and Israelis share responsibility for the darkness. An endless stream of lies fills the air waves and Zionist apologists engage prejudices to promote their agenda.

How can we transform the darkness all around into light?

The world seems so cold with the only warmth to kindle fires being Israeli phosphorous bombs. How can an article or essay like this shed any light amidst the barrage of lies trotted out as facts? One can know the truth by more than information put out by any side.

One has to engage one’s heart.

What does it mean to engage one’s heart? It means reaching deep within yourself to ask how you feel. It means not turning away from the pictures and videos coming out of Gaza. It means looking into the eyes of those children, eyes glazed amidst the rubble.

Engaging one’s heart means looking beyond one’s political philosophy. It means getting in touch with your humanity. The road to an informed heart means having the courage to take a position that is neither safe nor popular.

We have all been endowed with a conscience. To exercise this basic human quality leads to an informed heart. An informed heart is not something to grasp, but something to grow into. Without it, we are soulless, spiritless atomic material.

Every tomorrow has multiple roads that lead to different realities. The tomorrow the Israelis demand is the road of submission.

Unfortunately, it is a road well traveled. Submission is a short road and ultimately, submitting to any authority other than God leads to a dead end. In today’s myopic view of the future, economic success is measured by the fiscal quarter and political expediency demands no sense of history.

But the informed heart takes a different road which leads to a different reality. It stretches into eternity where hopes and dreams converge. Israel puts roadblocks in the way of our hopes and dreams. They call them "checkpoints" and make no mistake about them, these are designed to kill our hopes and dreams. But as 17th Century author, FranÃ§ois de la Rochefoucauld has eloquently said,

"Hope is the last thing that dies in man; and though it be exceedingly deceitful, yet it is of this good use to us, that while we are traveling through life it conducts us in an easier and more pleasant way to our journey’s end."

Does an informed heart engage in polemics? A mother holding the lifeless limbs of her 3-year-old does not require an enlightened mind but an open heart…conscience…a human impulse.

In seeking Truth and Justice, these are the noblest works of God.

One does not need encyclopedic knowledge of Gaza or 60 years of Zionist mythology to find Truth and Justice. Israeli foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said, "there is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza". After thousands were killed or injured and ambulances forbidden from entering Gaza, what information do you need to understand the Truth?

I want to leave my children a sense of empathy and pity, an informed heart if you will. I want to leave a will to right social wrongs.

Please, do not remain silent as to what is going on in Gaza. Remember,

"In keeping silent about evil, in burying it so deep within us that no sign of it appears on the surface, we are implanting it, and it will rise up a thousand-fold in the future. When we neither punish nor reproach evildoers. . .we are ripping the foundations of justice from beneath new generations."

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